Daily Yellowstone journal., 1887-05-29
MANUFACTURE or GOLD LEAF.
Wsrh and Wages Of Gold B~esters-some
Interesting Information.

Interesting Information.
Gold leaf is manufactured in about
twenty shops in New York and its
suburbs. 1t is estimated that 20, 500
ounces of gold are consumed annually
here In making gold leaf. Gold can be
beaten so thin That ii viii take 1,200
leaves TO equal the thickness of the sheet
upon which thisspaper is printed. An
ounce can be beaten down to $500 leaves
three and three Fights inches square.
At an establishment in Hudson street a
reporter was told that the gold is bought
Of brokers in small ingots, which are
melted into bars about a quarter of an
inch thick. These are rolled into q rib
bon rs thick ss note paper. After passing
through the hands Of the heaters it is put
IN books, interviewed with MANILA tissue,
and twenty books are put in \ package.
No dross comes from the gold as il is
beaten, but there are ragged edges that
drop of. The leaf Is used by gilders,
bookbinders, dentists and sign painters.
The wages Of gold heaters are $1l a
week. A piece hand gets % q beating.
A good one can possibly do two q week,
and as many as nine a month have been
done. Extra is paid il the workman
beats the gold below five grains to a book.
Some a go 10 four and one-half and
even four grains per book.
How thin can you get it?" heater in
Broome street was asked.
ut is beaten to one three-hundred-
thousandth OF an inch thick at five grains
TO the book. II it gets down to four
grains it is one thee hundred- and-sixty-
thousandth of an inch. The New York
system employs men only, with girls to
do the cutting. The German system IN
ploys children Of 8 or o. On that system
men do the beating and girls do the prim-
ing and filing"
How is the gold beaten?"
1T is beaten in mods made in London
from the mtestines of cows, cleaned and
vanished with a secret preparation man.
ufactured by Puckridge q Nephew, Of
London. The skins are put in packages
of 900 skins each, and three of these
molds 60 to a beating"
How ouch goli is there in a beat
ing?"
Fifty pennyweights int beating. The
ribbon Of solid gold is divided into 40
or $50 pieces, each about an inch square.
These are put into a clutch made of
French paper four inches square. That
Is beaten until we get the gold TO the
edges. II is handled with pincers at that
time. II is beaten half an hour. The
pieces are then piled twenty on top of
each other. They are then cut in four
and doubled over, making 720. They are
then put in a 'schoder,' or finer mold cut
down. We fill the schoder with those
leaves in the middle, and beat it out to
the edges. We beat il about two hours,
until we draw about ten pennyweights off
the schoder."
''Does it have to be kept dry?"
I'VE have 10 keep the windows shut;
but the clutches, schoders and molds take
up 80 much moisture that they have to be
put in a hot mold TO press the moisture
out"
docs that finish it,"
'.Oh, no. The leaves ara cut again
into four with a tool called a wagon,
making 1850, but the molds hold only
2.700. The molds are beaten four hours,
at the end of each hour there being what
10 called q close, when they are heated.
Then the heater Is through with it, and
the cutter takes it. This is the only work
done by the girls in New York. They
a cut from thirty to sixty-four books a
day, at two and a half cents a book. The
leaf when it gets in a book is 50 thin that
il is handled only with the breath"
How is the work tested?"
''Only with the eye. There is no rule
about the business, but il is purely a mat
ter of skill and judgment. The best is
the kind used on glass. which shows all
imperfections."
~ notice gold heaters usually work in
Easements. Why is that
"a firmer blow can be given. II on the
first story, there is a jar, which deterior-
ates the quality"
''Is there any adulteration in the bust
nessY"
THE Germans beat what is called a
metal leaf with an alloy. 1t is sold very
cheap. 1t is oleomargarine of gold leaf,
and will tarnish. Much Of it is used by
bookbinders."
when did the trade starti''
1T is very ancient. II is mentioned in
the Bible. Gold leaf was used ON Solo
mons temple. The Chinese beat gold
leaf, but il cannot compare IN quality
with American leaf. Some of the China
men had trouble with their employers,
but they soon ended il. They got the
employer into their lodge room, and then
n after another took a big bite out Of
his flesh. New York Sun.